Baby Blues
by MaryChristmas
Summary: It's...a bit complicated...let's just say, Lestrade has been up to something...yup SH22...part 6 now up
1. Prologue

**

Baby Blues

** Disclaimer: Okay guess what? I own...erm *backs away from the scary guys in suits* I was just going to say I owned the evil plot bunnies who made me come up with this....*relaxes as scary guys in suits back off* Right..I do not, have not, and will never own SH22...  
  
Summary: Weeeeelll, it's a little complicated. I think maybe you should probably just read...unless you're afraid.....  
  
A/N: Okay, getting some notes out of the way....Jen, if you read this one...zed means the same thing as 'd*** or f*** or well you get the idea....And to everybody else, I am soooo glad you liked "Ring of Innocence" It's the longest story I've ever written...ever ever ever ever ever. Anyway, to anybody else who is just looking in...yes I am very strange.  
  
Here's yet another story from yours truly...I just couldn't get this idea out of my head....naughty naughty plot bunnies that won't leave me alone...  
  
Prologue  
  
Fun, that's what Beth Lestrade planned on having on this vacation. It seemed that every time she got these particular times off, she was always called back after maybe a day or two. Which was why she was on her way to her brother's house in Galveston, instead of in New London at her apartment like she usually was. Now she had two full weeks to get to know Crissy better than the few brief moments at the family reunions, and to reacquaint herself with Kevin.  
  
Stepping out of the hovercab, she payed the driver and without waiting for him to take off walked up to the door. She depressed the buzzer and stood off to one side of the door. When it opened, she stayed out of the direct line of sight of the man before his comical expression of confusion made her give herself a way by laughing.  
  
"You're getting slow in your old age, Kev," she teased as she stepped up and gave him a hug.  
  
"Old age? Well, let me tell ya something ya whipper snapper," Kevin returned, "With age comes wisdom." He struck a "Thinker" pose, and Lestrade cracked up some more.  
  
"Yeah well, with all that 'wisdom' you've got, you've probably already divined that your baby sister has just spent several uncomfortable hours in transit, and an even more uncomfortable forty minutes on the cab over here. And, on top of all that you probably already know that she's starving."  
  
"Did I just hear the 's' word?" Crissy asked coming up behind her husband, "My goodness, Beth I can see that you are. Why you're practically skin and bones! Shame on you Kev for making your sister stand out here. Come on inside now and this lazy good -for- nothing husband of mine'll get your things while I fix you somethin' to eat."  
  
Beth grinned as Kev grumbled and complained good-naturedly. The two had been married for ten years, but loved each other unconditionally--despite the numerous teasing insults. They didn't have children, but loved to treat Beth like she was theirs. She followed Crissy into the kitchen, or was dragged behind the woman considering she had hold of her arm, and plopped down in one of the chairs at the table.  
  
Several hours (and fried chicken legs) later they were all in the living room sitting before a cozy fire (not real like at Baker Street) and enjoying the warmth. Finally Beth broke the amiable silence by asking a rather awkward question.  
  
"Did your new doctor have a better diagnosis?"  
  
Kevin and Crissy exchanged looks. "Yes...and no," Kevin began.  
  
"He said there wasn't anything wrong with my ovaries...it's the rest of me that's the problem. I bleed too easily, and they can't find anything to stop the hemorrhaging. He said I'd die if I tried to have another baby."  
  
Beth leaned over and reached across to pat Crissy on the hand. "I'm so sorry."  
  
The older woman smiled and grasped her hand for a brief moment and then let go. "Doctor Phillips did say there was another way, but it just seem so...impersonal."  
  
Kevin nodded his agreement. "Yes, if it weren't so hard to get on the lists for adoption, we'd much rather go that way."  
  
"What do you mean?" Beth asked.  
  
"He said that we could take one of my ovum and fertilize it, then implant the embryo in a surrogate mother," Crissy answered, "But, like I said, I just can't picture having a stranger carry our baby. I mean...what if she up and decides to run off with it?"  
  
"I'll do it," Beth heard herself saying, "I mean, I don't have a relationship...and I'm sure Grayson will understand if I don't come back for nine months, or a little longer."  
  
The look of joy on her brother's and sister-in-law's faces was enough to make her push back any doubts she had that she was doing the right thing. They spent the rest of the night talking animatedly about the subject, and made an appointment to see Doctor Phillips the very next day. They decided not to tell anyone else yet, just in case it didn't take.   
  


* * *

Two weeks later, she looked out of the window of her transport at the great beast that had claimed their lives two days ago, and let the tears fall freely. They had gone sailing, unmindful that a gale was brewing from the south. The tiny sail boat hadn't had a chance. She had attended the funeral services, and had got herself transport back home. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One:  
  
Lestrade swung her foot back and forth nervously as she sat on the examination table in the doctor's office, awaiting diagnosis. She hated these things; they always made her feel like a little kid. Jane Dawson, a portly older woman with a flourid, cheerful face, didn't help matters. She treated all her patients in the same grandmotherly fashion. Lestrade supposed it was comforting to some of the women who came here, and if she admitted it, to her as well. However, at the moment, she was too distracted to feel comforted.  
  
The first few weeks after the accident, Lestrade had thrown herself into her work to take her mind of things. Then, when Edith had called saying Alice was pregnant, she remembered the possiblity that she might be pregnant herself. After making the appropriate congratulating remarks, she had made an appointment with a well-known obstetrician/gynocologist. And now here she was, doing the waiting game.  
  
The quiet chiming of her wristphone startled her and she groaned. She had forgotten to turn it off. She ignored it and continued to swing her foot back and forth, taking a small amount of comfort as it steadily thumped against the metal framework. Finally though, she had to switch the stupid phone off; it was becoming entirely too persistant, and she did not want to talk to anybody at the moment.  
  
Dr. Dawson chose that moment to enter carrying a chart in her hands. She waved it triumphantly and gave a large smile. "Congratulations dearie, you are most certainly pregnant. From the DNA I've been able to pick up, I'd say it was a girl."  
  
Lestrade closed her eyes and lay back on the table. On one hand, she was happy that this last bit of her brother and sister-in-law had survived. On the other she was terrified of the consequences. It had all seemed so easy back in that two story house on the beach. She opened her eyes and gave the concerned doctor a smile.  
  
"Thank you, I guess I really wasn't expecting it to have worked." She had explained everything when the doctor questioned her earlier.  
  
Dawson reached out and patted her hand. "Well, now we've just got to get you settled on what you can and can't do at your job. For right now, you can stay with your present duties, though perhaps you should drive a bit more carefully. Your reputation proceeds you," the doctor explained at Lestrade's raised eyebrow, "Of course you'll be making regular check-ups so that if any problems arrise we can get them sorted out. Now, here's your certificate of health and a some extra information to be handed to your boss, and I'll see you next week for your first check up."  
  
Outside in the fresh air, Lestrade took a deep breath and stretched before walking over to her cruiser. As she slipped behind the wheel she wondered what Grayson's reaction to this would be. For that matter what was everyone else's going to be? _That's why you should never give in to impulses...well okay sometimes they pan out but..._  
  


*********************************

  
  
Grayson looked over the papers a third time before he finally looked back up at Lestrade. He cleared his throat and shifted nervously. "Well, Lestrade, you just give me your progress reports from your physician, and we'll erm assign you according. I'm giving you today and tomorrow off, so I don't want to see you back here til Friday. Dismissed."  
  
"Why Chief, are those tears of joy I see...okay okay I'm leaving..." Lestrade grinned and walked out. Now she just had to find a way to tell her parents, and her aunt Janine (who was a ruthless matchmaker), and Holmes and...her grin faded. This was not going to be any fun...  
  



	3. Chapter Two

Chapter 2  
  
Lestrade fidgeted as she debated on knocking on the door or not. She could turn around and go back to her apartment, and call from there. Just for once, it wouldn't kill her to take the cowardly way out. However, she would have to deal with her mother eventually, and it would be worse if she did that. Better to get it all over with at once.  
  
She raised her hand and gave the door a good pounding. It relieved some of the tension she was feeling. An annoyed voice from within called out that they were coming, and then the door opened. A petite woman with greying hair stood blinking in confusion.  
  
"Hi Mom," Lestrade said. The woman continued to stand there looking as though she had no clue as to what was going on. "Uh, isn't the part where you say, 'Why hello Beth, this is a marvelous surpirse'?"  
  
Her mother simply shook her head in disbelief. "I'm trying to figure out who you are and what you've done with my daughter--she usually avoids this place like the plague except at mandatory gatherings."  
  
Lestrade gave a nervous laugh. "Yes well...I just thought that I hadn't been by here in a long while...and you signed off so quickly when I told you about Kevin...I was worried and..."  
  
Martha Lestrade gave her daughter an appraising glance. "Yes, well you'll tell me what's really the matter in your own good time. For now, come on in. Your Uncle Frank and his wife are here." She turned and walked inside, taking for granted that her daughter would follow.  
  
Lestrade closed her eyes and groaned inwardly before following. Well, at least she wouldn't have to repeat what she was going to say. Besides, she could always hope that her aunt and mother would get into one of their arguments about it and that be the end of it. Of course, she knew that hope was useless...Martha and Janine Lestrade agreed on nothing, unless it had something to do with her. Then they were adamant in their agreement to disagree with whatever decision she'd made.  
  
Inside the living room, her father and uncle were sitting on the sofa, talking animatedly about their jobs. Edward Lestrade was a retired army colonel, and his identical twin brother Frank was still doing odd jobs for the government. He had worked his way up the political ladder as a constable, then sergeant, inspector and so on. Now, he lived in semi-retirement. They both stopped what they were doing and grinned at her.  
  
"Why hello Beth, this is a wonderful surprise," her father said getting up and walking over to give her a brief but fierce hug. "My goodness, you don't stop by often enough. Not that I blame you of course." He gave her a wink and sat back down as his wife walked out of the kitchen with her younger sister in tow.  
  
"I don't care if the recipe did say to cook it for thirty minutes. I've been doing this same dish for thirty five years, and I've always baked it for at least forty if not longer," Janine insisted as she took her customary seat in a wicker rocking chair by the door into the front hall. She was taller than her sister, and her hair was lighter, with not so much grey.  
  
"Oh is that why it always tastes rubbery and overdone," Martha rejoined, "I never could figure it out. Beth don't hover, sit somewhere. You know that makes me nervous." She settled herself in a large armchair on the opposite side of the room from her sister. Beth shrugged and sat between her uncle and father.  
  
Uncle Frank patted her on the shoulder. "Nice to see you here love. It takes my attention off the two biddies for a bit." He gave the same affable wink as his brother.  
  
"Oh, Beth I didn't even notice you!" Janine exclaimed, "What's happened? Are you getting married? No, that would be too much to hope for. You've been fired haven't you? Yes that has to be it. Well don't worry a thing about it. You didn't need to be doing all that awful policework anyway..."  
  
"Janine," Frank interceded, "Why don't you be quiet a moment and let the girl speak for herself. We all know she won't come ten feet near here without being forced to, (thanks to some nosy busybodies who shall not be named) so she obviously has something to say. Let her do it in her own way."  
  
Janine opened her mouth and shut it again at the warning look her husband shot her. Then, everyone turned their attention on Lestrade and all was silent. She could swear she heard crickets chirping in the background.  
  
"I wasn't fired." She began playing with her badge as she spoke. "Actually, it....sort of involves Kevin and Crissy. You know she wasn't able to have children...."  
  
"Oh yes," Martha interrupted, "And then they both died...now I'll never have any grand-children....." Subsided at a sharp look from her husband.  
  
"Well, actually..." Lestrade began again, still fiddling with her badge and not looking at anyone. "Actually um...when I was there, they said that there was another alternative. They could have a surrogate mother. People did it all the time back in the twentieth century, and they still do. They chose that option, and so you do have, or will have in less than nine months, a grandchild."  
  
"So what you're telling me," Janine said, "Is that some stranger is carrying my grand-niece or nephew? Who is she and where is she? We have rights too you know. At least visitation rights. She had to have signed a contract or something...just because the original parents are dead...I know, we'll hire a private detective and..."  
  
"Yes," Martha agreed, "And we'll get to the bottom of this straight-away. What was her name dear, wait let me get a pen and some paper."  
  
Lestrade looked at her father and then at her uncle. Well at least they had caught on, though neither seemed inclined to help her out in the slightest, judging by the identical grins on their faces.  
  
"Now," her mother said, "What's the woman's name?"  
  
"Elizabeth Marie Lestrade."  
  
"'Elizabeth'. How do you spell 'Marie'?"  
  
"The same way you spell my middle name." Lestrade understood now why her father and uncle were so amused. And if it weren't such a serious matter she'd probably be laughing hysterically right now. Actually, that didn't seem to be such a bad idea...  
  
"Martha, are you dense or something!" Janine yelled suddenly, "Beth just told you who the woman is."  
  
"I know that Janine but....oh." She looked up from where she was writing, blinking owlishly. Then, setting the pad and pen aside, stood up, walked over and gave her daughter a crushing hug. "Oh this is wonderful news!"  
  
"It certainly is," Janine agreed, still sitting regally in her wicker chair. And then the two women began arguing over whose house she was going to stay at during and after, since they both had lovely guest rooms that could be converted into a fine nursery. And of course, she needed the best place to live, since she wouldn't be working any longer.  
  
Lestrade winced and then sighed. She should have known this was where the real battle lay. "Actually Mom, Aunt Janine....I'm going to continue working."  
  
"Well Beth dear," Martha said, after a long silence, "If, after the baby is born that's what you really want to do..then I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything....There are lots of single working women, and you won't have to worry about baby sitters..."  
  
"No Mom...I'm staying on the entire nine months, or unless there's undue problems."  
  
"Absolutely not! That's dangerous work!" Janine cried, "Think about your baby!"  
  
"Believe me, I have, and.."  
  
"Ted, tell your daughter that she simply cannot do this."  
  
"As much as I hate to admit it sometimes, love," Edward said, "_Our_ daughter is a big girl now and capable of making her own decisions. She has for quite some time actually. Now, I'm sure she won't mind letting you two meddlers convert that extra bedroom in her apartment into a nursery." He gave her another wink.  
  
Instantly the two sisters were mollified and began arguing over the decor they would be using. Beth grinned her thanks at her father, gave her uncle a hug, then stood up and left, saying she still had a few things left to do before she settled in for the night.  
  



	4. Chapter Three

Chapter 3  
  
After almost two hours of alternating between pounding on the door to loitering around, Lestrade finally came to the conclusion that Holmes and Watson were not in, and probably wouldn't be for a while. She didn't know wether to be relieved or disappointed. She chose relief. After all, they weren't close family, they really didn't need to know. Besides, they'd find out along with everyone else once it became rather obvious.  
  
_Yeah right, admit it, you're scared of what they're gonna think about you._ No I'm not. I just think that since we're really only business colleagues, my being pregnant is none of theirs.  
  
With that thought in mind, she turned around (she was in one of her door poundings sessions) and walked back down the hallway, down the seventeen steps and out to her cruiser. A glance at the chrono piece on the computer had her groaning. No wonder she was so tired. Well she'd go home, get some sleep and...then she had no idea what she was going to do. Maybe talk to Alice. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.  
  
The next moring she woke up to a persistant pounding on the door, followed by consecutive buzzes. Groaning she sat up and threw on a robe over her night clothes. The only person she knew who came here this early was Holmes and if he didn't like the way she was dressed then he shouldn't come so early.   
  
"All right all right I'm coming. Geez..." She yanked the door open, and stood staring at her father.  
  
"Morning sweets," he said kissing her on the cheek, "I just thought I'd come over and tell you that your mother and aunt have gone insane. You know that group of 'troubled' teens your uncle and I have been counseling with old war stories and such? Well Janine had this bright idea that they would make the perfect crew to redo your extra room. Coming with me?"  
  
"What?! Yes, just let me get changed." She rushed back into her room and quickly dressed in her uniform, mumbling dire threats the entire time.  
  
A few minutes later they were in her father's hovercar flying over New London.   
  
"Why do they do this to me? Why? I just don't understand. What have I done?"  
  
"You've refused to do their bidding, but made the mistake of remaining within their reach I'm afraid." He looked over at her and grinned before turning his attention back to the airspace. "Anyway, it's a rather good idea in terms of getting the kids interested in something other than stealing and hanging out in the Holocade. Nobody else seems to want anything to do with them. If they're given enough responsiblity, I think they can make quite a turn around."  
  
Put in a logical manner like that she couldn't argue. So what if she did when Holmes said pretty much the same thing about the Irregulars? After all, he put them in dangerous situations which was an entirely different matter from giving them hammers and nails. Okay so she just liked to argue with Holmes. It was fun.   
  
Her father expertly maneuvered the craft into a perfect landing in front of the rec building. It was one of the older structure in the city, but it filled its purpose nicely. It had once been a school. They exited the car and made their way into one of the rooms up stairs. A crowd of about ten kids, between the ages of twelve and sixteen, were listening intently to Aunt Janine as she patiently explained the difference between a pastel yellow and an ordinary yellow. Her mother stood beside her shaking her head in the negative.  
  
As Lestrade's gaze scanned the rest of the room, it came to settle on the back of the room with five familiar figures. In this order, from herself to the other side of the room they were Uncle Frank, Deidre, Wiggins, Watson and Holmes. And they were all giving Aunt Janine the same rapt attention as everyone else. Then, Janine finished her little speech and asked if there were any questions.  
  
"I have one Mrs. Lestrade," Holmes replied, "I understand the theory behind what you say, but will you be using practical application? That is the best way to keep a student interested in a subject after all." Lestrade couldn't see his face from where she stood in the doorway, but she was certain he had just given his most charming grin, judging by the way Aunt Janine tittered and fluffed her hair.  
  
"Why certainly Mister Holmes. It's for my neice...a very nice surprise for her. I feel that with so many people working at once it will get done faster....are you quite all right?"  
  



	5. Chapter Four

Chapter 4  
  
Holmes smiled slightly as he sat beside Watson, listening to the two women up front arguing. When Deidre had told him about this class and that Lestrade's father and uncle were in charge, he had immediately signed up as a volunteer. Perhaps one of them would know why she hadn't answered her wristphone yesterday. He was slightly worried about her. She had seemed depressed since coming back from vacation, and no wonder. It was always hard to lose a family member.  
  
It was even more fortuitous--or so he'd thought at the time--that her mother and aunt were going to have a lesson on interior design; how to remodel a bedroom into a nursery was the subject at hand. It had been a rather interesting course, though admittedly more for the interaction between Frank Lestrade and the two women than the subject matter; nurseries simply weren't his cup of tea. Edward had left as soon as the women began speaking, saying he'd be back soon. He still had not come back.  
  
Finally the lecture was over, and Janine Lestrade asked if there were any questions.  
  
"I have one Mrs. Lestrade," Holmes replied, "I understand the theory behind what you say, but will you be using practical application? That is the best way to keep a student interested in a subject after all." He gave her his most charming grin, and the woman melted under it.  
  
"Why certainly Mister Holmes. It's for my neice...a very nice surprise for her. I feel that with so many people working at once it will get done faster....are you quite all right?"  
  
"Yes, yes I'm all right. I just recalled an important business matter that I must attend to straight away. If you will excuse me?"   
  
Holmes' mind was reeling as he stood up. He ignored the questioning looks he recieved from everyone, and the concerned ones he recieved from the Irregulars and Watson, as he made his way to the front of the room. Lestrade was...pregnant? His brain refused to accept that statement; it simply did not make sense. He was just going to have to ask her; even though it was really none of his business. And after all, she was a lovely young woman. Just because she never said anything about any boyfriends didn't mean she didn't have one.  
  
He was stopped momentarily at the door by Edward who smiled genially and stepped aside. "Leaving already? Don't blame you. She's in there if you want to talk to her." He pointed at the men's restroom.   
  
For a moment Holmes was confused, then realized who 'she' was. He nodded his thanks and walked into the restroom. At a glance, there was no one inside, but a stall door that was shut and locked, with no feet showing at the bottom disproved that notion. He smiled and walked into the stall beside it, careful to make no noise. Standing up on the toilet, he looked down into the adjacent stall.  
  
Sure enough, Lestrade was crouched on the toilet, listening very hard. He grinned. "You know, there is a reason this is called the 'mens' restroom." She jerked, looking up at him, and almost fell into the toilet. She jumped down from her precarious perch and settled one of her patented 'death glares' on him.  
  
"You know, it's not polite to sneak up on people when they're hiding from you."  
  
He couldn't help but chuckle. "Really? And why were you hiding from me."  
  
"Not just you, all of them." She waved her hand in a vague motion towards the room. "It was supposed to be a surprise after all. What are you doing here anyway."  
  
"Being nosy," he replied truthfully. "You...wouldn't happen to have a sister would you?" It was stupid of him to ask, he already knew the answer.  
  
"No. Yes I really am pregnant. Not that it's any of your business." She opened her stall door and stepped out. He jumped down and followed. It had been his own words to himself, but it still hurt.  
  
"Then I suppose you won't tell me who the father is?"  
  
Lestrade turned around and gazed at him a moment, before her eyes lit up with amusement. "Of course I will, it's no secret. It's my brother's baby."  
  
He felt his jaw drop against his own wishes, then settled his own dignified sort of glare on her when she started laughing.  
  
"Oh..Holmes the look on your face..." she clutched at her stomach and took deep breaths before continuing. "Jumping to conclusions without all the facts again are we?" she teased. "It really is my brother's but it's my sister-in-law's as well. I agreed to be their surrogate mother...only they died before any of us knew it had even worked. I only found out myself yesterday."  
  
He felt relief flood through him, then frowned inwardly. What did it matter to him? When she gave him an odd look, he smiled. "Well," he said, "Watson and the Irregulars are no doubt going insane with curiosity. Do you want them to know?"  
  
She grinned at him, "Oh I'm sure my mom and aunt have told the entire story by now."  
  
He looked down at the ground a little shamed. "Yes and had I stayed I would know."  
  
"Oh but then I wouldn't have had a good laugh at your expense."  
  
He raised an eyebrow, and then bowed mockingly. "I suppose this round goes to you then."  
  



	6. Chapter Five

Chapter 5  
  
Lestrade was still grinning as she stepped out of the restoom and walked down the hall. She still had no idea what she was going to do with herself for the rest of the day, but she was feeling infinitely better. The look on Holmes' face when she'd said it was her brother's baby! It had been a cross between disgust, shock, confusion and disbelief. Another chuckle passed her lips. It was a moment she'd remember for all time.  
  
As she slipped outside into the warmth of the day, she recalled her decision to talk to Alice, and decided today it was still a good idea.   
  


*****

  
  
"Alice, are you sure this is the right place?" Lestrade questioned as they pulled up before a rather run down apartment building.  
  
They had just spent the past hour talking about, well, about baby things. Professor Presbury had left them alone, and Edith had been out running some errands, so that when Alice came across a website depicting a class for first time moms, there were no objections save for Beth's when she signed them both up.  
  
The first class was in a week, but they needed to check in now, to get an interview with the person in charge, and a tour of the place they'd be at. So now here they were.  
  
"Well, this is the adress," Alice began, "But, I don't think it said anything about it being an apartment..."  
  
Lestrade nodded, and motioned for Alice to park. "You stay here--just in case. I'm going to check it out. If everything's okay I'll signal you with my wristphone."   
  
She slid from the hovercraft and walked up to the front entrance to the building, keeping all her senses aware for any sign of danger. Pushing open the double doors, she walked inside to find a very nicely--if sedately--decorated interior. A teenage girl with purple hair sat behind a desk situated a couple feet from the door, and grinned at her entrance.  
  
"Hello Officer. Is there any problem?"  
  
"No," Lestrade, grinning herself, "Actually I just signed up for this class that..."  
  
"Oh! Well congratulations! Just give me your name and I'll have Professor Peters come straight-away." The girl reached for a pen and poised it over a pad in front of her. "My name's Jenny by the way. I'm sort of the all round person here."  
  
"Thank you Jenny. I came with a friend; she's pregnant too. Let me just tell her everything's all right."  
  
"The outside's pretty offsetting isn't it?" Jenny said shaking her head, "Professor Peters says it's to keep unwanted attention from us. He says that pregnant women shouldn't have to have more stress placed on them than they've placed on themselves, and a ritzy place would attract the wrong sort of crowd. I say it's because he doesn't want anyone just dropping in off the street. You'd be surprised at how many young women who've found the place over the internet pretend to be pregnant and come just for the free food, and the other stuff we offer. Of course the Professor finds out eventually and sends them on their way to the rec center, which has pretty much the same resources. The only real difference is that anybody can go there."  
  
Alice stepped into the building at that moment and smiled nervously at Jenny. "Hello..."  
  
"Hi. Okay can I get your names now? Oh, no need for last names. They're on your sign up list, and on the doctor's notice. We will of course inform your physicians so that they can tell us if we're doing something upsetting, or if there's problems that you haven't told us about. Or so we can tell them if anything happens to you."  
  
"I'm Beth and she's Alice," Lestrade said. This girl was certainly a talker, but extremely friendly. She didn't seem the type for malicious gossip like Aunt Janine.  
  
"All righty then, just let me take this up to the professor and he'll come meet you in a few minutes. In the meantime, there are some chairs over there that you can sit on. I'm afraid all we have are books to read. The professor thinks that people in these modern times spend too much time on the computer. I used to hate books til I came to work here. I used to hate Yardies too." She shot Lestrade a grin, and then disappeared up a stair case at the far end of the lobby.  
  
Lestrade and Alice exchanged amused glances, then wandered over to the chairs on the opposite wall from the desk. After taking a seat, Lestrade decided they were more comfortable than they looked. "How long did that website say they'd been in business?"  
  
"Um, three years I think. It got started just before Gallileo City opened." Alice looked at her oddly before sitting down in the chair beside her. "Why do you ask now?"  
  
"So, they've had at least three groups of women right? Oh no reason; it's just that the way Jenny talked they'd been here a long time."  
  
"I see. Well no I don't actually. Anyway, if we don't like Professor Peters, we can just leave you know."  
  
"I know--I'm just being paranoid is all." Lestrade smiled and shrugged. "Comes with being a cop."  
  
Thirty minutes (and several racey jokes) later, Jenny popped back down the stairs and into the lobby. "Sorry about the wait. He was having some trouble with his jacket...it got caught in the lift door, and being the silly man that he is, he didn't think to take the thing off. Then, when he'd done that, he spent the next thirty minutes trying to get the doors opened. I finally convinced him that there really were two people down here, and that he'd better come straight away. He thought I was just trying to keep him from getting his jacket."  
  
"Yes well, Jenny dear, you do come up with the craziest plans to make me move faster when nothing important is going on at all."  
  
The warm masculine tones were coming from the vicinity of the staircase and Lestrade craned her neck to get a good look at him. He appeared to be in his fifties with balding grey hair and an angular face with many laugh lines. He wore an old fashioned (twentieth century) brown pin striped suit--including a tie, and brown loafers. All in all he gave the genaral appearance of being a genial man, and Lestrade relaxed ever so slightly. There was still something not quite right though. Perhaps it was the icy blue eyes that, though seemed warm enough, still gave her the chills.  
  
"You must be Beth and Alice. Welcome. I'm Professor Peters. Come along and I'll give you your tour--I'll explain more about the program as we walk. And you can tell me a little bit about yourselves as well."  
  



End file.
